1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antitumor protein and an nucleotide sequence encoding the same.
2. Background Art
Various studies have been conducted on antitumor substances found in edible mushrooms.
For example, polysaccharides and glycoprotein from mushrooms which have antitumor activity are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos.61214/1977, 74797/1980, 293923/1986, 70362/1993 and 80699/1994, Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 47518/1986, 47519/1986 and 26172/1991. It is also reported that mushrooms are found to have antitumor activity when administered.
However, there has been no report on an amino acid sequence of an antitumor protein derived from Tricholoma matsutake which directly kills a tumor cell and on a gene encoding said protein.